Anne Mugisa, Charles Ariko and Edward Anyoli
17 November 2008
Kampala — MUFTI Sheik Ramadhan Mubajje, Hassan Basajjabalaba and Idris Kasenene were yesterday acquitted of charges of disposing of Muslim properties fraudulently. In a ruling that lasted 40 minutes, Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate Margaret Tibulya said there was no evidence to convict the top Muslim leaders.
"I, accordingly, acquit each accused on each of the six counts," Tibulya stated.
She said whoever was not satisfied with her ruling could appeal within 14 days.
Immediately after the ruling, the fully-packed courtroom erupted into chants of Allah Akbar (God is Great) by both the audience and the three men in the dock.
Many punched the air as a sign of victory. The Prisons warders and the Police immediately took the acquitted men through the cells to the court's backyard where excited supporters hugged them. The jubilant supporters prostrated in prayer in the driveway.
Earlier at dawn, the Police deployed heavily around the court building. The stretch from the City Square to Kampala Pentecostal Church was sealed off, allowing in few people as armed military and regular Police patrolled the area.
Tibulya was escorted to the court by the Police and as she read the ruling, two officers sat at the extreme end of her bench.
Mubajje and the vice-chairman of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, the seat of Muslim administration, Basajjabalaba and former secretary general Kasenene had been charged with fraudulent sale of Muslim property, forging documents and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Tibulya said the court wanted to establish if the accused were trustees of the property, converted it to unauthorised use or had intention to defraud.
She said under the Muslim constitution, Mubajje, Basajjabalaba and Kasenene are trustees.
The court ruled that there was no evidence that the officials put the property to unauthorised use.
Tibulya said the witnesses testified that the executive committee to which the accused belonged sat and resolved to transfer the property.
Muhammad Adrama and Adinan Koire, both prosecution witnesses, testified that the executive transferred the property in good faith.
Tibulya said this position contradicted what another prosecution witness Ismael Mugomba told the court.
"Major inconsistencies if not explained satisfactorily will usually result in the evidence being rejected," Tibulya said.
Another prosecution witness Hassan Kirya, Tibulya said, told the court that his complaint was that the property was transferred to a third party, Drake Lubega.
On whether the three had intended to defraud the council, the magistrate said the testimony of one witness indicated this was not the case.
Tibulya quoted witness Koire as saying the purpose of the deal was to enable the council construct a perimeter wall around shops at the council headquarters and to pay 50% of salary arrears. She said the evidence showed that this was done.
"I carefully considered the evidence of all the 14 witnesses. Nowhere in their evidence do they allude to the fact that they or the council suffered loss by reason of the transactions," Tibulya ruled.
"There is no evidence that there was no value for money in the transaction."
However, Tibulya noted that Mubajje repeatedly lied to the Muslim community that the properties had not been sold.
"This is a very serious matter for a person of his standing but it should not blind us to the difference between fraud and deceit," she said.
"It should be left to his moral values as a leader of a big religious community."
On the caveats that Basajjabalaba and Kasenene withdrew, the court said the two never impersonated the people who had lodged a caveat.
She said careful examination of the documents showed that the two signed as members of the executive of UMSC.
Tibulya also noted that the prosecution had tried to include another charge without following procedure during the hearing which she disallowed.
The ruling means that the UMSC duly sold the property to Drake Lubega after meeting and deciding to do so.
State attorney Andrew Odiit, the prosecutor, said he would appeal the ruling, which he described as unfair.
The faction against Mubajje also vowed to appeal against the ruling.
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